Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Scan \Scan\ (sk[a^]n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scanned} (sk[a^]nd);
   p. pr. & vb. n. {Scanning}.] [L. scandere, scansum, to climb,
   to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander.
   Cf. {Ascend}, {Descend}, {Scale} a ladder.]
   1. To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [Obs.]

            Nor stayed till she the highest stage had scand.
                                                  --Spenser.

Source : WordNet®

scan
     v 1: examine minutely or intensely; "the surgeon scanned the
          X-ray"
     2: examine hastily; "She scanned the newspaper headlines while
        waiting for the taxi" [syn: {skim}, {rake}, {glance over},
         {run down}]
     3: make a wide, sweeping search of; "The beams scanned the
        night sky"
     4: conform to a metrical pattern
     5: move a light beam over; in electronics, to reproduce an
        image
     6: read metrically; "scan verses"
     7: obtain data from magnetic tapes; "This dictionary can be
        read by the computer" [syn: {read}]
     [also: {scanning}, {scanned}]

scan
     n 1: the act of scanning; systematic examination of a prescribed
          region; "he made a thorough scan of the beach with his
          binoculars"
     2: an image produced by scanning; "he analyzed the brain scan";
        "you could see the tumor in the CAT scan" [syn: {CAT scan}]
     [also: {scanning}, {scanned}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

SCAN
     
        1. ["A Parallel Implementation of the SCAN Language",
        N.G. Bourbakis, Comp Langs 14(4):239-254 (1989)].
     
        2. A {real-time} language from {DEC}.
     
        [Are these the same language?]
     
        (1994-11-01)

scan
     
        1. (computer peripheral) See {scanner}.
     
        2. (circuit design) See {scan design}.
     
        3. ({functional programming}) See {scanl}, {scanr}.
     
        4.  An algorithm for scheduling multiple
        accesses to a disk.  A number of requests are ordered
        according to the data's position on the storage device.  This
        reduces the disk arm movement to one "scan" or sweep across
        the whole disk in the worst case.  The serivce time can be
        estimated from the disk's track-to-track {seek} time, maximum
        seek time (one scan), and maximum {rotational latency}.
     
        {Scan-EDF} is a variation on this.
     
        (1995-11-15)